Day 8: Holding ground

Becky Langley, left, Ken Ogawa and Julie Foat pray amid the ashes of Malibu Presbyterian Church after attending a service for members of the congregation at the Malibu Performing Arts Center Sunday morning.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Ken Ogawa, left, and Becky Langley raise their hands to the sky in the ashes of the Malibu Presbyterian Church after attending a service for members of the congregation at the Malibu Performing Arts Center Sunday morning. The pair were celebrating the fact that the church will be rebuilt.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Matthew Awbrey, 10, climbs through the ruins of the Malibu Presbyterian Church after Sunday service was held at the Malibu Performing Arts Center.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Fire evacuees Joan Himmel, her husband, Larry, and their son Miles, attend ceremony honoring rescue personnel and victims of the recent fires before the Chargers football game against the Houston Texans at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Rescue personnel are honored before the Chargers football game against the Houston Texans at Qualcomm Stadium Sunday in San Diego.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

National Guardsman, David Chovan, holds his Bible as he prays during an interdenominational service held for the evacuees staying at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Sunday.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Steve Stout and his wife Debby salvaged their wedding album from their home on Cabela Dr. in Rancho Bernardo. They have lived there 9 years.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Brandon Stone, 10, takes a break from helping recover belongings in the remains of his grandparents burned-out home on Aguamiel Rd. in Rancho Bernardo. His grandparents, Don and Donnna Whittaker had lived in the home for the past 12 years.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Orange County Firefighters clean up along Santiago Canyon Road. The fire is still burning on Pine Ridge.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Fire retardant is dropped on the Santiago Canyon Fire in Orange County.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Smoke fills the distant canyons as a Sikorski helicopter takes in a mixture of water and fire retardant from a tank near Santiago Canyon Road in Silverado Canyon.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Santa Barbara County strike team members look for hotspots and provide structure protection for Silverado Canyon residents.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

State prisoners working on the fires prepare to head out to the Poomacha fire from a staging area.  (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Chay Peterson arranged for this community kiosk with her friend and fellow Silverado Canyon resident Karta Khalsa, as firefighters and helicopters battled the Santiago fire.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Rancho Barnardo Baptist Church is shown with fire damage Sunday.  (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)

Southern California Edison worker Francisco Flores works to restore power to a fire-ravaged community in Running Springs.  (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Smoke clouds billow into the sky from the Poomacha fire.  (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

State prisoners working on the Poomacha fire head to the fire line.  (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

San Bernardino County firefighter Carlos Munoz hoses down hotspots left by the Slide fire on a hillside in Arrowbear, Calif.  (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

A deer roams in search of food along a smoky Modjeska Canyon Road.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)